Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My old illustration teacher, Barron Storey, taught me the meaning of and artists' sketchbook-not only in filling up the pages, but personalizing the cover to make it your own. He brought to class, along with his original cover illustration from Lord of the Flies, stacks of sketchbooks with wonderful collages and sketches inside and out. It has been awhile since I created a collage on my sketchbook cover so I did this quick sketch and experimented with some old film negatives I found. I had finished it off with applying matte medium to protect it and some strange things happened. Some of the film became cloudy and some stayed shiney. Apparently the plastic that protects the film reacts differently to matt medium and super 77 depending on which side it is on. Take a look!

Zoo Day with the local SCBWI Illustrator group was very exciting! It is wonderful capturing the movement and life of the animals, especially the monkeys. It was especially fun when the children visitors were hooting right along with the rowdy gibbons!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

What a wonderful experience I had at the Chemer's Gallery Children's Book illustrator event last weekend! I got to meet Illustrators such as Kelly Murphy, Ronald Himler, and Kristina Swarner, among others. There were demonstrations, book signings, and displayed artwork. Above is a picture of me with Ronald Himler. What an honor to meet such accomplished and experienced illustrators! They have this event every year so I recommend checking it out!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Just finished this today as another portfolio piece. This is a scene from a children's book idea about a girl and her sea adventures. This reproduction is a bit off from the original, but close enough for now. Feel free to give feedback and critique on it. Enjoy!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Logo for the CAEA (California Art Teachers Association) sketchbook project for secondary school students. Will be on the front of all of the sketchbooks distributed state-wide. This copy isn't as bright as the original but here it is:

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Max and The Wild Things, the new roarin' band thatwill keep you screamin!Thought of the idea last night,sketched and painted in between work today. Maurice Sendakis one of my biggest influences. I finished this forthe art show coming up this weekend. Enjoy!

I have been meeting with members of SCBWI- local children's book illustrators which by the way the new issue of the SCBWI magazine features a really cool illustrator on the cover, David Ercolini (http://davidercolini.com/index.html) and from his site

I found an inspiring illustrator named Eric Losh (http://www.elosh.com/) who appreciates animals as I do. His awareness of the environment and his nature-messages are what I incorporate in my children's books.

The recent assignment at the illustrator schmooze was to draw an animal doing something so here is the new sketch that I worked on last week. I have always had this scenario in my sketches but have never solidified it in a finished piece. Shown below is some of the process of the reference drawings and Cinderella mice studies and the ink sketch. Any feedback is helpful!

About the Illustrator

"Above all, it is important to do what you love in life. I am so happy to be doing just that- teaching art and freelance illustration in Southern California with my darling family, husband Chris and puppy Darwin. I grew up in the Sierra Mountains which influences my appreciation of nature and animals."
Clients include: The Arts Council of Long Beach, Studio 3 Glassworks, Miraleste Library, Marine Life Refuge City of Newport, Century 21, California Petites, San Clemente Art Supply, and Simply Special Creations. Previous and current projects include Murals, Sculpture, Illustration, and Logo Design.
Search my profile and portfolio at http://www.scbwi.org
or check out mywebsite:
www.heathersoodak.com